Top Regent Lived High In Higher-Ed Land

EDITORIAL

President made nearly three times more than the governor

Academics are sometimes accused of living in ivory towers, unconnected with and unconcerned about real-world issues. In the case of Robert A. Kennedy, until recently the president of the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education, there's no doubt.

Each week's revelations show anew that he not only lived in an ivory tower, but one that was gold-plated and diamond-studded as well — at taxpayer expense.

Courant investigative writer Jon Lender, working with figures obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, disclosed on Sunday that Mr. Kennedy's 13-month income was not merely $340,000, as had been widely reported, but at least $100,000 more than that.

Thanks in part to a $50,000 expense account that, incredibly, required no vouchers, as well as a "performance-based incentive" (bonus) of $25,000, Mr. Kennedy's income for the year-plus he was on the job shot past the $440,000 level. That's nearly three times Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's annual compensation. (Mr. Kennedy has returned $25,000 of his expense fund to the state, it was learned Monday.)

Mr. Kennedy abruptly resigned this month when his own free spending of state money was revealed: He had authorized handsome raises for a score of employees without seeking approval of the full Board of Regents.

As if to strain readers' powers of disbelief, Mr. Lender also reported Sunday that Mr. Kennedy is yet owed $20,000 more in "deferred compensation," despite the fact that he's no longer on the job — a job which, last summer, he did for two months from his home in Minnesota.

If this is the going market rate for academic leaders, the market is out to lunch.

This incredible sweetheart deal was negotiated by Timothy Bannon, who at the time was Mr. Malloy's chief of staff. Mr. Bannon quit at the end of 2011, but not all the blame for this expensive debacle left with him; some must remain in Mr. Malloy's office. Those with the power to write blank checks must be accountable to someone, and in this case, that's the governor.

In the meantime, when will the astonishing revelations about Mr. Kennedy's compensation — and other lavish benefits of public higher education — end?